The Ties That Bind Us
by rocketstar
Summary: Agent Sloane Matthews was haunted by a traumatic event from her past, something that destroyed her family one night and motivated her to joining the FBI. Thanks to a friend Sloane finds herself transferring into the BAU and finding things she never expected to find such as people to replace the hole in her heart, a best friend in Spencer Reid and perhaps even answers to her past...
1. Chapter 1

_Walking into the small Italian restaurant Sloane Matthews looked around before spotting the person who had called and invited her to come and meet him. Sloane had been a bit surprised to receive a call from David Rossi asking her to meet him out of the blue as they hadn't seen each other in about two years. But they went back a few years so Sloane was all the more happy to go and meet him although she wasn't really sure why this meeting came about. His phone call was pretty vague, he didn't give much details all Rossi had said to her was that the needed to talk and would she meet him. Which is how Sloane ended up in a quaint little Italian restaurant on a Friday night after a very long day at work. As she walked over to the table Sloane smiled at Rossi, the very proud Italian American still looked the same. Always with the expensive shirts, the weary look of having seen too much in the world and of course with a glass of wine in his hand. That was one of the things Sloane loved around David Rossi; that he shared her apperception of good wine. _

_"Hello stranger." Sloane began as she pulled out a chair and sat down opposite Rossi._

_"It's good to see you Sloane, it's been a while." Rossi stated and Sloane couldn't help but nod in agreement, she had known Rossi for seven and a half years now but they hadn't seen each other in two years. Mostly it was due to the both of them busy, Sloane with work and Rossi busy with his writing career and then coming out of retirement and heading back to the bureau. _

_"I could say the exact same thing to you Dave." Sloane replied as Rossi went about pouring her a glass of red wine. "I read your latest book, impressive as always…"_

_"You always say that Sloane, how's the family?" Rossi questioned._

_"They are good although I suspect that you didn't call me up and ask me to meet just so we could talk about your book and my family, so what's up?" Sloane asked as she took a sip of her wine and as she did Rossi bent down and opened a suitcase and pulled out a file marked with the bureau's insignia and slid it across the table. "What's this?"_

_"Transfer papers."_

_Sloane frowned as she didn't understand why Rossi had transfer papers with him and showing them to her, unless they were his. "Rossi are you leaving the BAU? Have you decided to go back to Crisis Negotiation or are you going somewhere else?"_

_"These aren't my transfer papers Sloane, their yours." Rossi announced._

_"Mine? Rossi I never put in a transfer request and I haven't pissed off Agent Wells enough to merit him trying to force me out of Innocent Images." Sloane began as she slowly opened the file and saw that they were indeed her transfer papers which if she was reading correctly stated that she was being transferred to the behavioural analyst unit. "Rossi…"_

_"You start on Monday kiddo." Rossi quipped with a smile on his face._

_"I-I don't understand Dave, I didn't do any of this…"_

_"I know you didn't Sloane because I did it." Rossi announced._

_"Why? That's really all I have old man, why?" Sloane asked as she was at a total loss over why Rossi did this let alone how he managed to do this without her knowing. He only told her because she apparently was going to start at the BAU in a matter of days. Sloane's head was spinning and it wasn't because of the glass of wine she had just downed in shock. What Rossi had done had taken a lot of planning and involved cutting a lot of the bureaucratic red tape._

_"Because you wouldn't Sloane, you'd make a great profiler and we both know it. I told you that when you got into the academy. I thought you might listen to me but apparently not. Yet here we are as I know you have what it takes to work in the BAU Sloane. You took the classes when you were in the academy, I also know that you took some of Gideon's classes to become a profiler and he offered you a position in the BAU and you turned him down Sloane. Yet you still keep up with the literature–" Rossi began._

_"I find that profiling is a useful took in helping me to catch paedophiles and sex traffickers, that's why I keep up with it. I can't lie and say that Gideon's offer wasn't tempting but I can't live the life you guys live. I have responsibilities Rossi which means I can't be getting up and leaving all the time because of a case. I'm needed here…" Sloane interrupted. _

_"Wyatt's fourteen now, right?" Rossi questioned._

_"Correct." Sloane replied not sure how Rossi was going to use her younger brother to convince her to join the BAU._

_"You and Eli have joint custody over him?"_

_"Dave you know very well that Eli and I have had custody of Wyatt for the last six years now." Sloane said as she watched Rossi refill her glass of wine._

_"Then what's the problem? I understand why you turned down the offer three years ago, as Wyatt needed most of your attention and you along with Eli were trying to give him stability. But that was years Sloane, things have changed since then! It's been almost ten years since what happened Sloane, Wyatt is no longer a kid, he's sixteen and doesn't depend on you as much as he did. Take the job Sloane and when we have to go out of town Wyatt can go stay with Eli or your grandfather. It's not like we're never here and you'll never see either of your brothers again and knowing your family, I'm guessing Wyatt will be graduating high school so you shouldn't put your career on hold until then."_

_"Rossi I have never put my life on hold for my brother and you know it, the BAU is kind of a big thing and you know better than me that it takes a toll on you professionally as well as personally. Or do I need to bring up the ex-wives and the retirement?" Sloane questioned in a teasing tone of voice._

_"You're coming round to this…" Rossi couldn't help note. "I know you can do this Sloane, you've been doing a pretty good job in Innocent Images, so do one better in the BAU. You have the credentials…"_

_"David Rossi, you are crazy… I don't know how you did this and I don't really want to know as it gives me plausible deniability for when this thing blows up. But what I do know is that Agent Hotchner would never sign off on a new agent joining the BAU without even talking to them at least. BAU." Sloane couldn't help but point out as she took a sip of her refilled glass._

_"Not a problem Agent Hotchner signed off on the transfer, he knows I've had my eye on bringing you to the BAU ever since I returned and he's seen your record and just like me he thinks that you and your speciality in sexual offences and obsessive behaviour would be a great addition to the team." Rossi revealed and Sloane put down her glass of wine and took another look at the transfer papers and there it was. The signature of one SSA Hotchner, unit chief of the BAU._

_"No way…" Sloane quietly murmured to herself._

_"So what do you say kiddo?" Rossi asked holding out a pen so Sloane could sign the transfer papers and she looked at the pen for a few moments before taking it and scribbling her signature at the bottom of the page._

_"You went behind my back and somehow managed to get me transferred from Innocent Images to the BAU without me even knowing and you only tell me three days before I start my new job? Can't really say no, can I?"_

Sloane stood in the bullpen of the BAU and she felt the biggest amount of nerves in her stomach, she hadn't felt this nervous since her first day on the job after she had graduated the academy. Back then Sloan had been terrified that she screw up and they kick her out or the bureau would realize they made a mistake by allowing her to join the bureau. Three years later Sloane felt pretty confident in her abilities as a federal agent but being at the BAU made her feel like she a probationary agent again. As the BAU was one of the most respected units to work for in the entire bureau. This unit was the one that profiled and captured the worst things that you could possible imagine, the worst parts of humanity. The paedophiles, rapists, serial killers. Basically the people who went about destroying people and families as Sloane knew all too well and she could help but finger her necklace.

"Kiddo you made it."

Looking to her left Sloane saw Rossi making her way towards her with an amused on his face and Sloane knew that the Italian American was very pleased that he had finally gotten his own way after all this time. "Didn't have much of a choice after I signed those transfer papers, still having a hard time getting my head around all of this and how quickly it's all gone about."

"Don't worry you'll be fine." Rossi assured.

"Easy for you to say Rossi, you're a living legend and practically helped make the BAU into what it is today." Sloane replied as Rossi was infamous in the BAU, he had interviewed Charles Manson three times, Ted Bundy once and he was naturally at Ruby Ridge as he practically wrote the manual on hostage negotiation. To say David Rossi was a legend was a bit of an understatement.

"Then you should believe me when I tell you everything will be okay." Rossi assured Sloane who just decided to go with as she knew Rossi and there was no way this man would bring her here if he didn't think she was capable of doing this job. "I see you brought your go bag, good girl…"

"Looking forward to getting to know this bad boy pretty well." Sloane quipped giving the bag a gentle shake when a tall man with dark hair and a stern looking expression on his face walked up to her and Rossi. Sloane knew straight away that this was Agent Hotchner, she had never personally met her before but she had heard of him and he had quite the reputation as did most people who seemed to work in the BAU.

"Hotch I'd like you to meet you Sloane Matthews, the agent I've been telling you about." Rossi said making introductions.

"It's a pleasure to have you join us Agent Matthews, Dave speaks very highly of you."

"So I've heard and I'm thrilled to be here and I can't wait to get to work Agent Hotchner, ready to hit the ground running." Sloane replied as she shook hands with her new boss, trying her best to sound professional and enthusiastic instead of a wrack of nerves.

"Hotch, please…" Hotch replied as Sloane finished shaking hands with Hotch. "The rest of the team are in the round table, if you'd like to meet them?"

"Naturally." Sloane said with a smile as Rossi took her go bag and her regular bag from her and placed them by the desk and cubicle that Sloane presumed was going to be her new home from home. Sloane followed Hotch and Rossi as they led her through the bullpen and up a few steps. The team. Just thinking about her new co-workers made Sloane feel a tad bit nervous, whilst she had been assured by Rossi that they knew of her arrival Sloane was still a bit apprehensive. They had been working with each other for a while and now in came her the new girl. It was going to take some time for them to settle into working with each other and to see where and if Sloane had a place in the team. Last thing Sloane wanted was to join the team the way she did and not have things work out. As Sloane walked into the conference room she saw several people sitting around a large round conference table and their eyes were all on her. Take a breath and don't say anything stupid and embarrassing.

"Everyone I'd like you to meet Sloane Matthews, Agent Matthews comes to us from the innocent images unit with a speciality in sexual offences and obsessional behaviours." Hotch said introducing Sloane to the team before introducing them to her individually. "Agent Matthews I'd like you to meet SSA's Emily Prentiss, Derek Morgan, Jennifer Jareau who goes by JJ and Dr. Spencer Reid, then of course you already know Dave."

Sloane made sure to pay super attention when Hotch was introducing her to her new co-workers, Emily Prentiss was the dark haired woman with the warm smile, Derek Morgan was the tall muscular and bald African American, JJ was pretty much the girl next door looking type with her blonde hair and blue eyes and then Dr. Reid was the awkward looking guy who looked way too young to be a doctor, let alone in the FBI. But then again this was coming from the woman who joined the FBI when she was twenty years old.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Matthews." Morgan said stretching out his hand and Sloane shook it with a smile on her face, so far everything seemed good and nobody was looking at her as if she was bad smell that wasn't wanted.

"You too Morgan."

"So you're like Rossi's protégée, right? From what Rossi's told us the two of you two go way back…" Emily asked and Sloane couldn't help but chuckle as she glanced over at Rossi.

"I don't know about that, I think the way Rossi's been talking about me has made people think that I'm like some mythical unicorn when I'm anything but." Sloane replied with a small chuckle. "But in all seriousness Rossi has been a big help to me, practically the reason why I joined the bureau."

"Really?" JJ questioned.

"Yeah, he came and lectured at one of my classes whilst I was a senior and he said something to which I made a smart ass comment in response and he hasn't left me alone since. We spoke after class and within an hour he was trying to convince me to join the FBI and I guess it works as here I am…"


	2. Chapter 2

Sloane's first two days at the BAU were relatively quiet as the team weren't called out for any cases so she spent her first couple of days being gently introduced into the unit. By that, Sloane was being given case files to look over and asked to come up with profile based on the information in the file and give an assessment to whether the local law enforcement could handle the care or merited being passed on to JJ and Hotch. Whilst it wasn't the most fact paced and exciting thing to be doing, Sloane did find it interesting as everyone was offering their helping and insight, making sure that she wasn't being overwhelmed. Despite the fact that she had spent the better part of two days and starting her third doing paper Sloane felt somewhat relieved as thinking about it, she preferred this to being thrown in head first and completely tanking and making an idiot of herself in front of everyone. Rossi had told everyone had great she was and Hotch had taken a risk with bringing her to the BAU so failure wasn't exactly an option with Sloane.

"You okay over there Matthews?" Morgan asked as he peeked over from his own desk to Sloane's desk, which was right opposite his. Although their desk weren't connected Sloane had Reid to her right and Emily was diagonal from her whilst Hotch, Rossi, JJ and Garcia all had their own offices.

"Just peachy Morgan." Sloane said as she glanced over a case file that was concerning a series of arsons in Milwaukee, so far there was nothing in the file that indicated that the BAU needed to be involved. The UnSub was mainly setting fire to industrial warehouses but nothing suggested that they were escalating but it was only time as arsonists always escalated as they couldn't help themselves as the thrill was always too much. The only thing Sloane could really do was tell the detective who sent over the case file to use the profile as a guide to help fund the UnSub and call them if things escalated to the point where people had been hurt or killed. Sloane would get one of the other to check her recommendation and she if they agreed and then it would be onto the next case file.

"Coffee?"

Looking up from her file Sloane saw Emily standing over her holding two cups off coffee. "Yes please."

"Milk, two sugars right?" Emily stated as handed Sloane the hot mug.

"Thank you and that is correct, am I that predictable?"

"No just trying to get to know you Sloane." Emily replied as she went and sat back at her desk and Sloane smiled as she took a sip of her coffee. "So tell us something about yourself."

"I'm not that interesting."

"You've got to be pretty interesting the way Rossi goes on about you, from what I've heard he had his eye on you when you were in high school. I'm surprised that he didn't try and break the rules to get you in the bureau earlier like they did with Reid. Pretty boy over there was only twenty-two when he joined the bureau." Morgan pointed out and Sloane couldn't help but glance over to the resident genius of the BAU. Dr. Spencer Reid was without a doubt the smartest man she had ever met and he was only a year old than her.

"Well unlike the good doctor I don't have three PhD's an IQ of 187 and can read 20,000 words a minute. Although I will admit I have a double major in Psychology and Political Science then an additional B.A. in criminology. But it's not because I'm a genius like Reid, I graduated high school when I was sixteen and was twenty when I finished college. I went straight back and got the additional B.A in two and half years just in time for Rossi to gift wrap me and deliver me to the academy. I'm smart just not Reid smart." Sloane replied with a small smile.

"Nobody is Reid smart." Morgan couldn't help but add.

"Hey!" Reid called out after a moment.

"So what else is there Sloan? I think I heard you talking to Rossi about your brothers? So there's a few of you?" Emily prompted.

"There's three of us, I have two younger brothers one of which happens to be my twin brother Eli and then after him it's Wyatt whose the baby of the family as he's only sixteen."

"You know the odds of having fraternal twins is 1 in 37 or 2.7%. including twins that are the result of fertility drugs and in vitro fertilization. The chances of having fraternal twins without the use of fertility drugs or IVF are approximately 1 in 55 or 1.8%. Also the older a woman is when she convinces, the higher chance she'll have of having fraternal twins. According to statistics there were more twins born to women aged between 45 to 49 in 1997 than during the entire decade of the 1980s. Although this only accounts for only five tenths of one percent of all twins born, reflecting the relatively fewer births in older women." Reid said and Sloane couldn't help but chuckle in amusement, she had learnt in her short time at the BAU that Reid practically knew everything and that the resident was very socially awkward yet sweet although he had a tendency to go off on a tangent.

"Nice to know." Sloane replied, looking over and doing consultations on case files have her the chance to observe the team and see how they functioned together as a team and individually. As she mentioned before Reid was the resident awkward genius, Hotch was the aloof and professional alpha dog who not only led the team but also the unit. Rossi was the 'wise one' of the team as he had practically seen everything which meant barely anything surprised him anymore. Without a doubt him and Hotch were the most experienced and best profilers in the unit.

Morgan was the suave, cool and confident guy on the team who was used as the muscle in some instances based on a jokey comment from Reid, that the BAU only kept him around to kick down doors. Then there was Emily, she seemed like the mothering hen of the group, not an overbearing one it was more of the watchful older sister type as she checked in with Sloane, seeing how she was doing and offering her assistance if she needed anything. JJ was the one primarily responsible for the teams took and liaised with the media and law enforcement teams that they worked with, her job was not something that Sloane would ever want, but the blonde hair blue eyed agent took it in her stride. Sloane had a feeling that the team would barely function without JJ.

Then there was Garcia, the savvy and kooky technical analyst who shared the flirty relationship with Morgan, wore her heart on her sleeve and did nothing to hide her personality. There were so many different personalities but some how they all managed to fit together and knowing this information would help Sloane try to find a place in the team and trying to figure out how they would all work together.

"So Sloane, you and your brother close?" Morgan questioned.

"Sorry to interrupt but we've got a case, the jet won't be ready for another 45 minutes so I'm going to brief you here and hopefully the jet will be ready then." JJ interrupted before walking off and Sloane was dumbfounded for a second as she realized that the team were being called out for a case. This was going to be her first time in the field as a profiler. Sloane felt a mixture of nervousness and excitement as her hand wondered to her St. Michael's necklace.

"Sloane, you coming?" Reid asked and Sloane nodded her head as she rose from her chair and followed the BAU's resident genius into the conference room and took a seat next to Emily at the round table. As Sloane sat, she noticed Rossi walking into the room and giving her a reassuring smile. Once the entire team was there JJ stood up, passed around the copies of the casefile and used a remote to point to the wide screen and moments later a series of images popped up. Images of several dead women.

"In the last two months four women have all gone missing in Odessa, Texas. All four women were in their twenties, blonde and all found three weeks after they had gone missing. Each of them were raped numerous times before being strangles and being dumped in an alley where they could easily found…" JJ began. "That's not all the medical examiner said that the last three victims Angela Keller, Colette Flynn and Piper Ashby all had sedatives in their systems which would have left them conscious and unable to moves through the attacks."

"And the first victim didn't?" Rossi questioned and JJ shook her head as Sloane looked though the case file.

"Medical examiner found no traces of any sedatives in Brooke Meeson's system, Odessa PD would have put this down to being two different cases if it wasn't for the fact that the UnSub left his DNA inside all four victims. They've tested the DNA and they've got no hits so far, which means–"

"The UnSub may not even be in the system." Morgan finished.

"Cause of death?" Reid asked.

"They were strangled with their own bras, which were taken by the UnSub after he was done." JJ replied.

"Means he's taking them as trophies." Hotch noted before Sloane watched him turn his attentions over to her. "Matthews what's your opinion?"

"That the first victim Brooke Meeson isn't our first victim, whilst she may be the first victim that our UnSub has killed I don't think she's his first victim. No one wakes up one day and decides to rape and kill four women, he progressed to this. UnSub probably started with indecent exposure and worked his way up from there, a couple of sexual assaults here and then gaining the courage to finally commit rape. Then he escalated to rape-murder, UnSub may not be in the system but I guarantee this guy will have other victims somewhere." Sloane stated trying her hardest to sound confident as Rossi had told her that her expertise in sexual offences was one the reasons why she was hired.

"So we have an UnSub who started off as a rapist but when that stopped being enough to get him off, he started kill his victims." Rossi began as Sloane knew that made a lot of sense but she knew that serial killers tended to kill again to recapture the feeling of their first kill. Which they never truly would. So no matter how many women the UnSub killed, it would recapture the feeling of his first kill.

"He's clearly organized given how he dumps the bodies in places where he knows they'll be found but what I don't understand is why the UnSub is not using a condom? Or at least trying to cover up his tracks…" Emily stated.

"He using it to taunt us, the UnSub is giving us his DNA because he knows that we won't be able to find him as this isn't the UnSub's first time. Matthews is right about the UnSub possible having a record and past victims but since our UnSub has flown under the radar and evaded being caught, he just see's it as being a part of him game. He likes being in control…" Hotch explained as Sloane went over the crime scene photos.

"Makes sense as rape is all about control." Sloane added.

"Could explain why the UnSub uses sedatives to drug his victims, can't control them if their resisting him especially if he physically weaker…" Reid began and Sloane could see that the good doctor was about to go off into one of his infamous rants until JJ's phone buzzed and as she picked up the phone up a frown appeared on her face.

"What is it?" Hotch asked.

"Another victim has just been found."


End file.
